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Pastor:  How Many Hours Do You Work?

Orginally published on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 at 4:00 PM
by Todd Rhoades

Consider the following sobering survey results of the personal and professional lives of the clergy: 90% of pastors work more than 46 hours a week; 80% believed that pastoral ministry affected their families negatively…

  • 33% said that being in ministry was an outright hazard to their family
  • 75% reported a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry
  • 50% felt unable to meet the needs of the job
  • 90% felt they were inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands
  • 70% say they have a lower self-esteem now than when they started out
  • 40% reported a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month
  • 37% confessed having been involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church
  • 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend
  • 1991 Survey of Pastors, Fuller Institute of Church Growth, Pastors at Risk , H. B. London, Jr. & Neil B. Wiseman, Victor Books, 1993, p. 22 (from Bible.org)

    FOR DISCUSSION:  Truthfully... how many hours are you putting in a week?


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     TRACKBACKS: (0) There are 20 Comments:

    • Posted by pjlr

      I’d like to see some updated statistics to those quoted.  They are almost 15 years old.  Ministry has changed significantly in that time and I’m sure the answers would reflect that fact.

      As for how many hours, I try to keep it under 50 although sometimes there are marathon weeks and I’ve learned to coast on some week when things can and should be allowed to slow down.

    • Posted by

      Where is the the joy in ministry?  So many people who don’t enjoy being a full time pastor.  I really don’t understand.  I have times when I am down, but I can’t see doing anything else.  God created me to be a Pastor it is a part of who I am.  Notice it is not who I am, who I am is a child of God. 
      I don’t think it has had a negative effect on my family.  I hope I never get to a place where that is true. 
      As for how many hours I put in a week.  I required to put 50 in and I put 60 hrs in consistantly.
      In Christ

    • Posted by Ben

      Our staff is required to put in 50hrs a week.  But that can include meetings, visits, mentoring, all church activites, etc.  Like the last guy, I know that God created me for ministry.  But its my job to balance ministry and family.  I think the problem comes in that our congregations don’t understand that God calls first to be followers, then fathers and husbands, then ministers.  And those statisics come from congregations not getting that and try to fulfill family and ministry.

    • Posted by

      Wow, what a question. I am not a pastor (YET), but as an associate minister in our church, I put in on an average 25+ hours a week. I teach a men’s class on Monday nights, bible class on Wednesday nights. not counting meeting and preparing for Sunday morning/evening services.  But you know what? I LOVE IT. I WAS BORN FOR IT AND GOD HAS CALLED ME TO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Posted by

      Having been a succesful Senior Pastor, building a mainline denominational church from 20 to over 400 in 5 years - and now in the role of an Associate Pastor, I have seen both sides of the fence.

      As Senior Pastor, my family always came first, and the church understood this.  Unless it was a dire emergency, Mondays and Tuesdays were my days off.  I had a private line at the house that only my staff had the number for, and they were duly trained when to call that number.  My hours varied from 40 to often 60 hours weekly.

      As an Associate, my hours have increased, my pay has decreased, and my influence waned.  But in my heart I know that I am right where God wants me to be, and there I will remain until He sets the stage elsewhere.

    • Posted by Steve

      Yeah the stats are fifteen years old… I am sure they are much worse now considering how overall most stats you read reflect that most people in America work more and feel more stressed than ever before. I would guess that these numbers haven’t changed much and if anything things have gotten worse in some areas for pastors (as they have for many people)...working longer hours is commonplace today!

      We all work too much in my opinion. And when I don’t work I think about work which constitutes working. Any one else identify?

    • Posted by rev-ed

      No idea how many hours I put in (or what to consider “on the job hours” and what not to).  My family comes first, and my church knows it.  But my ministry gets a nice chunk of my time as well.

      I figure I’m better off not counting the hours, as it would be too little for some and too many for others (and a headache either way for me!)

    • Posted by

      I lose track of how much time I work. That’s probably not a good thing! The needs are real and the temptations are always there to try to “please” folks but I am trying to keep “pleasing” God instead. I am more humbled now than ever and appreciate other pastors even more. I have a “no dissing” policy on other pastors. Melt downs happen every once in a while for me but I keep running back to God and He refills me. Lack of boundaries drive me a little crazy sometimes. Folks can be really needy.

    • Posted by

      Great topic and question. It appears that most of us put in an average of 40 - 60 hours. My last ministry position of 13 years I know I averaged 50 - 60. But I’m slowing down and getting wiser at how to do things. I try to keep all ministry activity to 40 - 50 hours. But I also include anything I do that can be considered “ministry”. Phone calls that deal with ministry, research, witnessing etc. Even devotions for men’s groups and meetings need to be considered part of ministry. Now if you include the hours we all spend in intercessory prayer, late night counseling sessions, being awakened in the middle of the night by God to write a sermon, or how to deal with a difficult issue I have no idea what that time would include. But I think you want to be more mindful of ministry and not the clock. And I know that is at the heart of this whole discussion, is the heart God has given us for Pastoring and ministry.

    • Posted by

      I’m a youth guy, me and my wife do about 168 hours a week!

      Not really, but while the overall responsibility is less, time may be more in the Youth Ministry

    • Posted by

      It’s a bit of a long story, but after 15 years in full time ministry, I’ve been in a season of work in a “secular” job.  (I’m still trying to get back into ministry—I’m a regular reader of this site.) The last 18 mos. have been enlightening to me.

      Looking at these statistics, they are not unique to pastors.  MOst of my friends work more than 50 hours per week; many believe their jobs/schedules have a negative affect on their familiees; etc., etc.

      My question is this:  As pastors, where did we get the idea that our jobs would be stress free?  Are we so self-involved that we missed the fact that our people’s lives are pretty tough too?  The aostle Paul “learned” to be content in all circumstances.  It wasn’t an automatic condition based on his relationship with Jesus.  This is a tough world to make it in—in any profession. 

      I’m glad that this world is not my home and I’m only passing trough here.  In light of eternity, what’s another 58 hour work week?

    • Posted by

      Great comment Rick.  I try to keep my time to 50-55 hours a week (this doesn’t mean that I don’t have occasional seasons where I work more).  I try to keep to this target because I want to model a healthy lifestyle for our congregation. This still gives me plenty of time for my own devotional time and my relationship with my wife and kids. I figure if the regular guy works forty hours a week, attends church on Sunday, serves in a ministry and attends a small group he’s probably at 50-55 hours. If I’m killing myself at 70-80 hours a week and ingnoring my family, I have no moral authority to challenge the man who is doing the same thing climbing the corporate ladder.

    • Posted by Jason Nelson

      I used to work 70-80 hours per week.  One week during the Christmas season I put in 105 hours one week.  After a time of “seasoning” in my ministry and marriage I came to the realization that I need to work as hard as I can at ministry, but when the time comes for me to leave that ministry only 3 other people are going with me...my family.  So, I now work no more than 50 hours per week on average and I take 2 whole days off every week.  I have never counted weekend worship as “work time”, so that 50 hours is during the normal work week (I know, after you do the math it’s like 12-15 hour days, but that’s what it takes to give me famly time).

    • Posted by

      I agree with Rick’s post above.  Having been in the business world for 25 years I put in 50-80 hours per week in various positions.  Then I spent time teaching a Sunday school class, serving on church boards, or going to church activities.  The people in our churches are also spending to much time and are stressed out just like the staff.  As a Sr. pastor I am trying to get everyone to look at what we do and it’s value.  I think all of us need to slow down long enough to hear God and try to spend our time on things that further His kingdom.

    • Posted by Rick

      Good Article- I am not a full time Pastor but I have told my Pastors at my church- I await the day- (Its not too far off).  As a volunteer at church I work my regular 40 hour job and then I am doing church functions 20 hours a week most weeks so to get a day off will be a blessing.  I have always felt that if you are in a Pastoral role that it is a calling.  If you don’t feel called- Then why would you be doing it except to pay the bills.  I think we all need to do some Soul Care work and make sure we stay refreshed in His Word so that burnout does not happen.

    • Posted by pjlr

      As an addendum to my previous post, I have to say that the 50 or so hours I put in are those where I am in my office or doing other “direct” ministry related activities.  I don’t count small group involvement (even if I were leading it) or off the cuff “counseling over a cup of coffee” meetings. These are things any semi-dedicated church member would do.

      Before I went into full-time ministry I worked long hours and weeks and it was part of the job or part of attempting to climb the ladder of success, feed and clothe my family etc. It was much easier, even after a 60-70 hour work week and another 8-10 hours of church related volunteer activities, to turn off the brain and enjoy a ball game, movie or going out to dinner with my wife.

      Ministry is a differnet thing altogether.  You live with the sense that anytime now the phone will ring and you will be thrust into a difficult counseling situation, the death of a member of the congregation or something else.  You can’t compare secular employment with ministry in that regard.  In a subtle sense we are on call 24/7 and it behooves us to make sure we take time out to rest and enjoy recreation.

      I always get a kick out of those who work in the secular industry and suggest that just because they put in long hours pastors shouldn’t be complaining or playing the martyr, or even thinking that their work is different.  Talk to anyone who left secular employment for full-time ministry and they will tell you there is no comparison.

    • Posted by

      I work 65 to 80 hours a week at a secular job in the oil field. That is not counting the hours I have to prepare messages for Sunday, plus visit and counsel. It does put a great deal of stress on me, and I miss a lot of quality time with my wife. But I have found that if God has truly called you to minister, He will equip you and give you the rest and needed moments for your family. Even though I average only about 4 to 5 hours a night for sleeping, I have not noticed much because I believe that God gives me my strength. I believe what we must do is realize it is a calling from God. When we look at it as though it is a job persay, that is when we find ourselves in trouble and get burned out. God Bless you in your ministry.

    • Posted by

      Having learned my lesson about working outlandishly long hours (40-60/wk) and going to seminary this past year, I have begun to hold myself accountable to a small inner circle that I will cap what I am doing work wise to 40 hours (I’m on pastoral staff, to be ordained in less than 2 years upon seminary grad). 

      For me, in retrospect, much of the “work” that I was doing was laced with an unrecognized need for approval and validation by others outside of myself.  The challenge with this destructive “worm” is that it bores its way in and through the very fiber of your identity and being. The hamster wheel ministry experience of spinning and never moving forward only placating others was the most instant joy and passion killer I experienced.  It took me less than a year to see how damaging the results were already starting to be in my life; lack of time with friends (I’m single), lower grades (who had time to complete papers when I had x,y and z left to do at work?), weight gain (we won’t even go there...) and my relationship with someone ended before it had an opportunity to really begin (he couldn’t/wouldn’t allow himself to be relegated to a couple of hours a week...after all a relationship is about intimacy - can’t have that with only emails.)

      I think, in my very limited experience in ministry to this point is that it is our understanding of boundaries which help create a more healthy lifestyle.  I’m certainly not going to be the one saying that all Pastors put in a straight 40 and that’s it...I’ve been around ministry long enough now to see how much work we “take home.” But at the same time I wonder if everything we are trying to do is really necessary for the kingdom or is it just goals we would like to accomplish for our own validation?

      Old habits die hard however, I begin my first official pastoral call (children and family ministry) this next week.  There’s a list of “things” that I would like to see happen for this ministry already in hand.  My lecture to myself is already being reviewed.

    • Posted by Andie

      I work at least 15 hrs a week, and as much as 60 as a unpaid staff member.

    • Posted by

      I tent-make in addition to my (stipended) pastoral position and have been working 50-70 hours/week for a couple years. Most people I know in “secular” jobs put in 45-50 hours plus 10-15 at church. I don’t think 70 hours/week is healthy for anyone, but I think 55-60 (including worship and small group) is a reasonable expectation. I’ve observed plenty of pastors who count every minute they spend with anyone at church or reading anything church-related as work time. It’s easy to convince yourself you are working much more than you are.

      A good exercise is to keep track for a week of what you are doing once each hour all day long and see where your time is going. It gives you a consciousness about your time and a better picture of how you spend your work time (as well as forcing you to consider what is work and what isn’t).

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